


What Love Truly Means

by Kunoichirin



Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Genre: Death, Emotional Hurt, M/M, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-27 21:09:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19797817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kunoichirin/pseuds/Kunoichirin
Summary: Shinki couldn't do anything. His breath was quick. His father... the only one he had ever felt a true connection with... was dead. He died. Right in front of him.





	What Love Truly Means

**Author's Note:**

> I've lost people I love. I know we all have, or will. We need to cry sometimes. We need to spend every moment with those we love. I wanted to write this... so I could cry, so I could teach. So I could express my feelings, my inside tucked away emotions.

I paused before the hospital door. I knew what I would see. I wasn't... ready.

I raised my hand to the door, and tapped lightly. A girl in a white nurse outfit opened the door. Her eyes were sad... they were... dull. I pushed past her quickly. There, lay my father. He turned his head to me. His eyes were starting to glass over. Tears, hot tears, began streaming down both of our faces. I wanted to go to him... I wanted to know if... if he would recover... but I was frozen. I couldn't move.

"Shin...ki..." My father breathed, his voice hoarse. I squeezed my eyes shut, tears streaming down my cheeks. I forced my feet to move. Every step brought more pain to my heart. Every step... every... step...

I reached his bedside and crouched down. He put his hand on my cheek and smiled.

"I'm afraid... I will no longer be here for you... I have not long left in this world..." He wheezed. I buried my face in his shoulder and sobbed. My father... the only one I _ever_ knew as father... was disappearing, leaving me.

"You can't!" I hiccuped, my tears soaking through his robe. "You can't leave me... I need you..." My father wrapped his arms around me.

"I won't leave you... there is... nowhere you will go that I won't be with you." Father whispered to me. "I will... watch over you..."

"No... no, I don't _want_ you to watch over me... I want you to be here with me... to spend every moment with me... to teach me... teach me how..." I sniffled. "I will never be able to live... like I did... without you..."

"I know what it's like... to be alone." Father whispered. "You are not. I had no one for most of my life... and then I met Naruto... you will find someone who changes you... someone who will guide you..."

"That was you, father!" I cried. "That was you! _You_ changed me! _You_ taught me! _You_ guided me! You can't just leave me like that!" Uncle put a hand on my back, tears streaming down his cheeks as well. Aunt Temari was there too. Uncle Shikamaru... cousin Shikadai... we were all there.

"Shinki... look at me." I looked up into my father's glassing-over eyes. "I... love... you... and I always will..."

"Father... I love you too..." I buried my face into his chest, rising and falling... and then... stopping. His heart beat... ceased. "No... father... why...?" I didn't let go. I couldn't let go. "Please don't leave me! Father!!!"

~

It was a few days after the funeral. I was in the streets, looking up at the sky. I knew my father would be there. He was... watching over me... like he said he would.

I saw them. Boruto... Sarada... Mitsuki... I had fought them in the Chuunin exams. They were heading down the streets. Boruto's eyes lit up when he saw me.

"Shinki!! Hey!!" I didn't even look at him. "Long time no see." He said, coming up to me. The other two were behind him.

"Boruto..." I breathed. "How is... your father?"

"My... old man? He's lazy as ever." Boruto shrugged. "Ignorant. Always working."

"You should... pay him a visit in his office when you go back." I said. 

"Why?" Boruto grumbled. "He'll just dismiss me and say he's too busy."

"He loves you, you know. Just because he's busy, doesn't mean he doesn't _want_ to be with you." I whispered, my voice hitching.

"Shinki, are you alright?" Sarada asked before Boruto could say anything else.

"Sarada... you're father is also never home, right? When he is... you should tell him you love him, or at least show you appreciate him. Family... is a gift, after all..." I closed my eyes, trying to compose myself."

"O...kay..."

"Mitsuki... you're family..." I looked up at him. "You've met them... haven't you?"

"Correct." Mitsuki nodded.

"Shinki, are you okay? You're acting weird." Boruto pointed out.

I couldn't stop it. A single tear fell from my eye. It was followed by others. Yet my face remained expressionless. Boruto and Sarada's eyes widened. I wiped my eyes quickly.

"Shinki... did something happen-"

"Boruto, you're always saying how much you don't want your father to be Hokage." I began, my voice shaking. "Sometimes, I felt the same about my father." The tears fell again. "Because I never got to spend much time with him, no father-son time, no nothing. Because he was always busy, and I never thought to drop by to say anything..." My voice hitched. "But you... you have that chance. And you should... Sarada, you should too... and you, Mitsuki."

"Do you mean to say...?" Sarada trailed off.

"My father... is gone..." I whimpered. "Family is a gift I never had. Until him... and now... he's gone..." I shut my eyes tight. "Boruto... realize how important your dad is to your village. He has so many people who love him. So... please... tell him... that my father... it's because of your father... that he became who he was... tell him... please..."

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment... tell me about a moment you've lost someone... so I know I'm not alone.


End file.
